Boxee TV to offer unlimited DVR

The concept of having limited storage capacity is quickly becoming a thing of the past due to the cloud, but if you have a DVR leased from your cable company, you still have to face this issue. The seemingly archaic amount of content that can be stored on a standard DVR is no match for the current mindset of unlimited everything, which is why Boxee is launching an ambitious live TV set-top box that can store as much content as you want.

Boxee first came to the market a couple of years ago, but it had a tough time proving that it was any different than the myriad other set-top boxes that offer online video services and the like. The new Boxee TV still lets users access Netflix, Vudu, and all those sorts of platforms, but it is truly the No Limits DVR service that will become the product’s defining feature.

The device will come with an over-the-air HDTV antenna, allowing it to provide live broadcast content that users can record to their unlimited cloud-based Boxee account. Then, playback is just like streaming from any other service. Obviously, the advantages are that you can watch content the same day it airs live on TV, and you don’t have to worry about whether or not your specific program is available on Hulu or Amazon, etc. You also aren’t limited to playback on your TV as the content is stored in the cloud.

The Boxee TV will retail for $99, putting it directly in competition with the Apple TV and Roku. The No Limits DVR service will cost an additional $14.99 per month, which makes it more expensive than most other DVRs, but the unlimited storage should be enticing enough for users who record a lot of content. Boxee is using massive resources from Amazon’s cloud storage platform on the back end to make this work.

The DVR service is only slated for the top markets like New York and Los Angeles out of the gate, but the company plans to roll out to other cities in 2013. The Boxee TV will be available in November.